A passion for drawing, a penchant for the films of Jacques Cousteau, and a career as a marine biologist were SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS creator Stephen Hillenburg's inspirations for bringing this fun character to life. A hugely popular Nickelodeon show based on SpongeBob inspires THE SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS MOVIE, which brings the oceanic cast of animated oddballs to the big screen.

The bubbly inhabitants of Bikini Bottom are in more trouble than a sinking ship at the start of the film. The evil Plankton (Doug Lawrence) has hatched a plan to send the Krusty Krab burger chain out of business. He steals the secret formula for the delicious Krabby Patty and then frames Mr. Krabs (Clancy Brown) for the theft of King Neptune's (Jeffrey Tambor) crown. With all eyes on Mr. Krabs, Plankton starts selling Krabby Patties at his own Chum Bucket restaurant. Just then, SpongeBob (Tom Kenny) steps in and, with his starfish pal Patrick (Rick Faggerbakke), sets out to find the crown and get Mr. Krabs out of hot water. What follows is an epic adventure in which the pair encounter some slippery villains, and a hero in the form of special guest star David Hasselhoff--who appears as himself in a bizarre fusion of animation and live action. SpongeBob and Patrick frantically race back to Bikini Bottom to stop megalomaniacal Plankton from taking over the world. All of this is played out before an eclectic soundtrack, which pairs indie rockers like The Flaming Lips and Wilco with teen-pop princess Avril Lavigne. Taking its first triumphant step into the feature film world, SPONGEBOB soaks up an enthusiastic crowd of children and adults alike.